#34 Attend a Christmas Market
Back in late October Helen and I started to search the facebook events pages for Christmas markets that would coincide with days off, availability and be in this calendar year. By shear good luck we managed to get to The West Coast Christmas Show and Artisan Market on November 16th at the Abbotsford Tradex without having to juggle too much. It was the first event of the season for me and the first time I’ve been to a Tradex event in a decade. This market was nothing like a Girl Guide Craft Fair- Oh my goodness no! I bought a much coveted Steamer ( still in the box), mint and ginger infused honey (gifts), laser cut wooden Christmas puzzles and leggings and a dress that will fit my great niece for 2 more years, but its really cute! And some elderberry shrub elixir - it tastes great and its good for me!
The low point of the day was when I “lost” all my cash. I thought I had been pickpocketed and had a bit of a dizzying panic. We searched my purse and back-tracked and still it was gone. A cup of tea was needed and as we sat with the throng of shoppers surging past us I looked in my bag again , and there it was! Exactly where it wasn’t before! That was when I went back and bought the Steamer I had been thinking about.
Looking back to the day the list emerged, planning to visit Markets wasn’t just about the shopping. It was to make a point to embrace each of the seasons and do what I see thousands of other people do, tourists and locals alike. I wanted to experience something I just haven’t been doing out of laziness or flippancy or lack of time and effort. I’m really glad we made the effort to work this one into our busy lives and go together.
#54 Retire the Footcare Business
This was a difficult decision. When I first became a foot care nurse I thought that it would be my retirement job. The plan was to maintain 15-20 clients, 2-3 days a month while I worked at the hospital and then it would be my supplemental income in retirement. I’ve been doing just that quite successfully for 6 years, and truly enjoying my “feet peeps”. But in the fall, the rest of life got in my way and fitting the business in was causing a lot of stress. So I decided to find someone to take over and announced it to my clients. I did not renew my business insurance and yesterday I visited my last client. The end.